Upcycling Some Metal Wall Hangings

 During my most recent trip to the Salvation Army thrift store, I snagged a set of four metal wall hangings. They called to me, "Pat, you know you want to paint me..." Yes, I did. It was the quickest upcycle project because I knew what I wanted to do and I had ll the supplies at home already. And thanks to COVID and the weather (Chicagoland is being inundated with single digit temps, below zero wind chills and continuous snow), I had the time to craft.

I mixed my own paint colors, printed out the phrases I wanted to use and gave each two coats of varnish because some day the weather will turn nice and I can hang these outside. For now, they are in my windows facing out. At least the letter carrier will see them...

This last one I made for my daughter for Valentine's Day. It features Wilson the wonder dog, our 15 year old blind, deaf rescue dog with mega-esophagus and damaged kidney due to lime disease. Every day with him is a comfort and a joy.

Next up I have a date with a light switch cover and a rainbow palette of paints...

Happy crafting!

A HEART-felt Card for Valentine's Day

Today I created a card for Scribbles Designs. The theme is HEART-felt!, asking for projects whose main focus is HEARTS. I chose to use a digi image from Scribbles Designs called #890 Hearts Mason Jar  and my inspiration came from the Beatles' song All My Loving. I changed the one lyric I used for my sentiment from "I'll send all my loving to you" to "I'll save all my loving for you". And it's saved in the mason jar, of course!

After coloring the image with Copics and colored pencils, I adhered some tiny heart glitter/confetti to the jar along with some 3D heart embellishments. My loving is just bursting from the jar. I also used some Opal white Liquid Pearl for the twine around my jar, but then added a flower and button. So you can't really see the "twine" but its there. Really!

I've added the song lyrics below, so while you're reading and humming along, make sure you check out all the inspiration from the rest of the DT at Scribbles Designs Challenge Blog. And don't forget to create your own HEART-felt project and link it to the challenge blog for your chance to win a store gift certificate.

Lyrics from A-Z Lyrics:

"All My Loving"

Close your eyes and I'll kiss you
Tomorrow I'll miss you
Remember I'll always be true
And then while I'm away
I'll write home every day
And I'll send all my loving to you

I'll pretend that I'm kissing
The lips I am missing
And hope that my dreams will come true
And then while I'm away
I'll write home every day
And I'll send all my loving to you

All my loving I will send to you
All my loving, darling I'll be true

Challenges I am Entering:

Happy Valentine's Day

 

My daughter did a photo shoot of our 15 year old Silkie Terrier for Valentine's Day. Poor thing, he slept through the entire time! This is the best shot of them all...

I created this Valentine hanging flower decor. Lately I've been finding these metal containers just leaping off the shelves into my basket. By the time the year is over, I should have one created for every holiday. I wanted to hang it on my front deck alongside my door, but the last two weeks have been snow, Snow and SNOW!! It's snowing now, and while I put two coat of varnish on the container, the flowers are Dollar Store  items. I have about 3 feet of snow on my back deck, my grill is buried and the ramp in front of the house is impassable (luckily there's no one living here that needs to use it any more). So for now it's hanging in my living room.

This is the second metal planter that I've upcycled. The first one was Christmas, which I featured on an earlier post. Just this week I found another planter to play with some time in the future - YAY!!

I love thrifting for things to upcycle. I try not to go out too often. Not only is it unsafe due to COVID, but I already have stacks of things yet to paint, wire, frame and otherwise put my own twist on them. Most of the time, an item will inspire me right in the store, ad I already know before I get home what I'm going to do with it. Other times, I buy something because I get this feeling in my gut that it will make a great upcycle project. Do you thrift for art projects? How do you choose what to leave and what to take home? I'm always trying to downsize and declutter, and bring bags of items to the thrift stores, but unfortunately I bring home almost as much as I donate...

Hope you have a lovely day today!